International Business Times

Ghost Towns: Britain’s Increased Dependence On Online Purchases Wiping Out Retail Stores

gooch7 — Tue, 28 May 2013 14:16:08 GMT

“This town, is coming like a ghost town.” – The Specials, 1981.

Britain’s retail industry is facing a drastic consolidation – within five years time, one-fifth of all stores may vanish, resulting in hundreds of thousands of job losses, amid a greater dependency on online retailing.

European Commission Wants Punitive Tariffs Placed On Solar Panels Made In China, But At Least 15 Member States Oppose The Measure

Angelo.Young — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:48:29 GMT

Most European Union member states oppose a European Commission plan to slap China with import tariffs on its solar panels, a move the EU’s executive branch claims is necessary to combat unfair competition in green technology from the Asian giant.

US Markets Shrug-Off Massive Sell-Off On Japan’s Nikkei Thursday Morning, Suggesting Asia's Plunge Is Regional

Angelo.Young — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:50:44 GMT

U.S. traders Thursday morning appeared to have shrugged off losses seen in international markets after all three major indices declined by only a fraction of the fall seen in Asia.

Within the first two hours of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 60 points or 0.50 percent, the Nasdaq was down 14 points (0.41 percent), and the S&P 500 was down 12 points (0.75 percent).

Compare that to Asia, where the Nikkei plunged more than 7 percent, the Hong Kong market fell more than 2.5 percent and the Singapore bourse retreated 1.77 percent.

Euro Zone Private Sector Activity Contracted In May While The UK Reported Flat Q1 Growth, Adding To Mounting Concerns The Global Economy Is Slowing

Angelo.Young — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:55:12 GMT

Private sector euro zone activity declined again in May, according to the latest purchasing managers’ index report from Markit Economics, released Thursday. The news comes just hours after a similar report from HSBC shows that China’s manufacturing sector is contracting to its lowest point in seven months.

US Existing And New Home Sales And Prices, Durable Goods, Euro Zone PMI: Economic Events For May 20-May 24

mikeobel — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:38:54 GMT

U.S. consumers have been doing their share of heavy economic lifting, despite the effect of the payroll tax hike, the across-the-board cuts in federal government discretionary spending and the effect of a cold spring. One reason may be lower gasoline prices. According to AAA, as of Thursday, May 16, the national average price of regular-grade gasoline had declined to $3.601 per gallon, which helped cut the consumer price index by 0.4 percent in April. Whether consumers, who account for about 70 percent of the U.S. economy, can maintain their spending momentum remains to be seen.

In Sign Of Improving Greek Economy, Fitch Upgrades National Bank of Greece And Other Top Banks Just Days After Recapitalization

Cvand003 — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:49:05 GMT

Photo: Reuters Fitch Ratings has upgraded the ratings of several Greek banks, in a sign of an improving economy.

Royal Bank Of Scotland Will Lay Off 1,400 People Over Next 2 Years In Restructuring Of UK Head Offices

msingleton — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:29:32 GMT

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (LON:RBS) announced Thursday it will cut 1,400 jobs over the next two years as the bank continues to reduce its operations in efforts to boost its profitability.

"This is clearly difficult news for our staff and we will do everything we can to support them," said Ross McEwan, chief executive of RBS's U.K. retail business in a statement. McEwan said that redeploying staff across its retail head offices in London and Edinburgh would help RBS avoid redundancies and no customer-facing roles would be cut.

French Double-Dip Recession Offsets Anemic German Growth As Euro Zone Extends Its Already-Record Long Recession

Alexander Kaufman — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:44:18 GMT

France fell back into recession and Germany's economy barely grew in the first quarter of 2013, as the euro zone extended what is now its longest recession.

US Retail Sales And Consumer Sentiment, Industrial Production For China And Japan: Economic Events For May 13-May 17

mikeobel — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:36:30 GMT

Reports this week on consumer and producer prices are expected to confirm that inflation in the U.S. remains well under control, even as analysts expect April retail sales and consumer sentiment to show gains. Meanwhile, industrial production should emerge relatively weak.

In Europe, the key economic data release will be first-quarter gross domestic product, or GDP, for the 17-member monetary union. The metrics expect to confirm that the continent is in its longest-ever recession, one that has taken youth unemployment to more than 60 percent in Greece.

Global Economy Not In Strong Recovery, Due To Stagnant Hiring In US, Trade Misreporting In China, And Market Levels After Inflation Adjustment

msingleton — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:24:37 GMT

Stronger-than-expected economic reports and record-setting market levels got a big "hurrah" from investors in the past week. But some experts believe there's some irrational exuberance happening and bullishness could do with a reality check. A number of analyses are saying that the global recovery is actually faltering.

German Economy: Industrial Production Gains Strength During Q1 In Euro Zone's Strongest Economy, But Analysts Say It Could Be A Blip

msingleton — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:47:40 GMT

Photo: Jochen Eckel/Bloomberg A factory worker assembles a vehicle in Volkswagen AG's Audi division.

New York Beats Moscow As The City With The Most Billionaires [MAP]

Lisa Mahapatra — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:28:17 GMT

New York City is back, baby. At least when it comes to the city's share of billionaires.

For years, Moscow and its ruble-hoarding oligarchs and businessmen have dominated the Forbes world ranking of cities with the highest number of billionaires. But a recent study by WealthInsight puts New York City back on top with 70 billionaire residents, while Moscow is relegated to No. 2, with a paltry 64.

Roberto Azevedo To Become Next Head Of The World Trade Organization, Will Replace France’s Pascal Lamy

Cvand003 — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:30:15 GMT

Photo: Reuters Brazilian trade diplomat Roberto Azevedo is expect to succeed Pascal Lamy as the next head of the World Trade Organization.

French Recession - Europe's Second-Biggest Economy Fell Into Recession In First Quarter: Report

msingleton — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:37:20 GMT

March data for France's industrial production and industrial trade will confirm that the country officially re-entered recession in the first quarter of 2013. Final figures, due out May 8, are expected to show that French GDP fell by around 0.2 percent in 2013's first quarter, following 2012's fourth quarter contraction of 0.3 percent.

European Commission Scales Back Its Euro Zone, EU Outlooks, Forecasts 0.4% Contraction In Euro Zone This Year

msingleton — Fri, 03 May 2013 21:05:35 GMT

Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman

ECB Cuts Key Interest Rate To 0.5% As Europe’s Dire Economic Situation Shows No Sign Of Abating

Angelo.Young — Thu, 02 May 2013 12:10:42 GMT

The European Central Bank on Thursday cut its main interest rate -- for the first time in 10 months -- to 0.5 percent in response to the euro zone's worsening economic crisis.

The ECB’s governing council, which met in Bratislava, Slovakia, faced considerable pressure to cut its main interest rate.

It's Not All Gloom And Doom: Here Are 10 Euro Zone Businesses That Are Actually Doing Well, Despite The Debt-Choked, Recession-Plagued Monetary Union They Are Based In

Cvand003 — Wed, 01 May 2013 09:10:32 GMT

The euro zone is in seriously woeful shape: It is now in its longest-ever recession; it has endured five sovereign debt crises in five years and there are several candidates to go through a sixth such crisis; unemployment is higher than 26 percent in some member nations; and university graduates are leaving the monetary union to start careers elsewhere. That's old news by now.

So the monetary union is an unmitigated financial basket case, right?

March 2013 European Unemployment: 4.7% In Austria, 27.2% in Greece, 26.5 Million People Sit Idle

Angelo.Young — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:34:36 GMT

Photo: Eurostat The euro zone and the European Union have not seen any significant drop in unemployment since early 2011.

Euro Zone Is Now In Its Longest Recession Ever, Economists Say

moranzhang — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:48:44 GMT

Euro zone economic sentiment fell for a second successive month in April, and at an increased rate, European Commission data showed on Monday, strengthening the case for a cut in interest rates this week.

Monday’s survey “supports other evidence that the euro zone is experiencing its longest recession on record,” said Jennifer McKeown of Capital Economics, in a note to clients.

US Jobs Report, April Auto Sales, FOMC Meeting, China PMI: Economic Events For April 29-May 3

moranzhang — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 03:28:17 GMT

Weak data almost everywhere are likely to result in an European Central Bank interest-rate cut, and they could lower market expectations for an early end to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s asset-purchase program.

The U.S. April employment release will be a good test of whether the March report was a fluke or a sign of sustained weakness. Economists polled by Reuters are looking for an increase of 150,000 jobs, following the shockingly weak gain of 88,000 jobs in March. The unemployment rate likely remained at 7.6 percent.

Spain's Unemployment Rate For First Quarter 2013 Highest Since 1976 At 27.2%; Premier Rajoy Set To Unveil New Policies Amid Austerity Protests

Angelo.Young — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:07:45 GMT

Spain’s unemployment rate hit a record high 27.2 percent in the first quarter, a 1.1 percentage point increase from the same time last year, the Spanish National Institute of Statistics said Thursday.

This is the highest jobless rate for the country since 1976, and it's is more than three times higher than it was in 2007, just before Europe’s economic downturn. The number of jobless Spaniards has surpassed six million for the first time ever, reaching more than 6.2 million people.

US Q1 GDP, UK Triple-Dip Fear, BoJ Rate Decision: Economic Events For April 23-26

moranzhang — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:14:32 GMT

The first look at the U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product growth, which will be announced Friday, should reflect a solid start to the year. However, durable goods and home sales probably weakened in March.

Buoyed by accelerations in consumer spending and stock-building, real GDP probably expanded at an annualized clip of 3.0 percent, after virtually no change over the final three months of 2012.

But as March and April data continue to disappoint, attention has already shifted to the second quarter and the road ahead.

Slovenia Bailout: Will Slovenia Be The Next Cyprus?

moranzhang — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:46:50 GMT

Photo: Barclays Slovenia’s banking system scale is much smaller compared with Cyprus.

Spain's Recession-Plagued Economy Declined In February As Manufacturing Orders Fell: Conference Board's Index Of Leading Economic Indicators

msingleton — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:00:12 GMT

Declining orders for Spanish manufacturers, among other leading economic indicators, fell in February, signaling that Spain's recession is worsening, the Conference Board said Thursday.

The board's index of leading economic indicators for Europe's fifth-largest economy declined 3 percent, its first downturn in six months.

Also, the Conference Board's measure of current economic activity "remained very widespread, with all five components declining during the past six months."

IMF Warns UK Tightening Policies And US Political Gridlock Make New Recessions Possible And Put Global Economies At Risk

msingleton — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:14:57 GMT

Loosening monetary policy in the United States and cutbacks in British government spending could trigger another recession or even deflation and new credit bubbles, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF singled out the U.K. and U.S. for policies it calls risky in its updated World Economic Outlook report (WEO), released Wednesday.